The Centre County Office of the District Attorney is reviewing a small fire spotted in the ‘Beaver Canyon’ section of State College, borough police said this week.
The blaze happened during the spontaneous gathering that emerged late Sunday and early Monday, as locals learned that U.S. forces had killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, police Lt. Chris Fishel said.
At 309 E. Beaver Ave. — the Alexander Court apartment building — a man was seen lighting paper on fire from a balcony, Fishel said.
He said police have referred the incident to District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller’s office for guidance. Miller could not be reached for comment immediately on Tuesday.
Police did not release more details about the Alexander Court incident. As of Tuesday afternoon, police said, no one had been charged in connection with the fire.
No injuries or major public-property damage were reported during the Beaver Canyon gathering, which appeared largely as a celebration of bin Laden’s death. If police can identify parties who threw items from apartment balconies — or those who stood atop and damaged a parked car on Beaver Avenue — they may face some legal action.
But otherwise, police have said, they do not expect any citations to be filed in connection with the impromptu event. For more than two hours overnight Sunday into Monday, borough authorities shut down East Beaver Avenue between Pugh and Garner streets as thousands of people — mostly Penn State students — congregated in the street.
Borough police Chief Tom King, interviewed at the scene, said police planned to let the celebratory gathering take its natural course — as long as no one was hurt and no property was damaged. At one point, police extinguished a small bonfire in front of the Cedarbrook apartment building; it appeared to be unconnected to the fire being investigated at Alexander Court.
A portion of East Beaver Avenue remained closed about two hours early Monday after the gathering dissolved. Borough public-works employees cleaned the scene of litter and other debris.
‘Probably the hardest thing was getting the toilet paper out of the trees,’ said borough Director of Public Works Mark Whitfield. He said crews used a bucket truck to finish that task.
Otherwise, he said, workers found no broken signs and no missing street lights — no evidence of real public-property damage at all.
‘We have no evidence of any destruction’ Sunday night and early Monday morning, he said.
Earlier coverage from StateCollege.com
Earlier coverage from OnwardState.com
